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Richard Santana, a former gang member, shares his life experience with the Penn State Schuylkill community.

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Former gang member Richard Santana presents lecture at Penn State Schuylkill

February 20, 2013

Former gang member Richard Santana presents lecture at Penn State Schuylkill

On Thursday, March 14, the Penn State Schuylkill Criminal Justice Club and Penn State’s Commission on Racial/Ethnic Diversity (CORED) will co-sponsor a lecture by Richard Santana, founder of Homeboy goes to Harvard Productions, in the Morgan Auditorium at the Schuylkill campus from 6 to 8 p.m.

Santana will share his story as a third-generation gang member who went on to earn a master’s degree from Harvard University, and will challenge assumptions about life, people, achievement, and education. Once a tough-talking Latino gangster, he is now an educated, nationally recognized speaker. His journey provides a powerful and graphic illustration of cultural relevance in schools. His moving accounts of his gang-life experiences and how they shaped his beliefs, attitudes, and self-expectations are inspiring, unsettling, and thought-provoking. He challenges his audience to critically assess their own perceptions and helps them to recognize how these perceptions influence work relationships, effectiveness, and productivity.

Santana's message is one of making choices: between hope and hopelessness, between evaluating young people based upon our own standards or accepting them in the context of their own, between giving up on our most challenged youth or truly becoming their advocates.

Light refreshments will be served following the presentation. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about the event please contact Ron Kelly at 570-385-6075 or rap179@psu.edu.